Thomas Selby Lowndes was the son of William Selby Lowndes of Winslow and Whaddon and his wife Mary Goostrey, he was born in Winslow in 1776 and was the younger brother of Robert Selby Lowndes the Rector of North Crawley until his death in 1837 and was the second occupant of the new rectory in North Crawley.
In 1844 Thomas owned the land upon which the North Crawley school is now built. With the blessing and consent of the Bishop of Lincoln he donated the land and the approval for the school to be built took place on 28th May 1844 in the High Court. The National School of North Crawley was built jointly by the Reverend Thomas Lowndes and Thomas Alexander Boswell and received a subsidence of a Parliamentary Grant in 1845.
Whilst Thomas was appointed in 1837 he only served for 19 years when he resigned at the age of 61 in 1856 and took up a position in East Worldham, Hampshire. He died on the 19th April 1860 at Alton in Hampshire.
On his resigning at North Crawley the Rectorship passed to Charles William Selby Lowndes his nephew . Charles was the son of his brother William Selby Lowndes and his wife Ann Eleanor Isabella Hanmer.